What I See with Peter Fiorenza: Grace Tame’s actions have made her cautionary tale about importance of respect

I have been pondering for some time on whether to write about this topic. Simply, because it’s out of my comfort zone and could ruffle the feathers of some readers. But after talking about it with others, I’ve decided to put it out there. This column involves 2021 Australian of the Year Grace Tame. From what I have watched, read and learnt, she is a remarkable individual. She is an advocate for survivors of sexual assault and her story is horrific, to say the least. There is no way in the world I could understand or comprehend what she has been through. But, in saying that, some of Grace’s reactions and behaviour I have witnessed through the media does not sit well with me — and, I dare say, many others. Soon after being awarded Australian of the Year by then-Prime Minister Scott Morrison, she demonstrated body language that was described in the media as open disdain and icy formality. It is believed this was her way of criticising earlier comments made by Morrison about the issue of sexual assault. All this was captured for the world to see at an awkward photo opportunity at the Lodge in January 2022. Undoubtedly, the media laboured on the images and kept the incident alive. More recently, Tame’s interaction with another PM — Anthony Albanese — brought this suspect behaviour back to our attention. Albanese was attending the Future Victoria Summit, where he took part in a one word response game on stage. When asked about Tame, he replied, “Difficult.” This raised the ire of Tame. “Spare me the condescension, old man,” was her reported response. Later the PM qualified the comment, saying he was referring to Tame’s difficult life. Having spent much of my life in the teaching game, I’ve had to deal with a myriad of situations and behaviours. In a classroom, there is no place for a cross section of unacceptable behaviours. To keep the status quo, there needs to be an agreed norm — without it, there would be chaos, tears, disappointment and a loss of total control. This is despite the many reasons why a child might act the way they do. My mantra in respect to behaviour is — I understand the behaviour but I do not have to accept it. If other students in the class allow certain others to behave badly — irrespective of why — they will think they can do the same and the story does not finish well. So back to Tame. I understand why she might think the way she does, but does demonstrating a lack of respect to the position of Prime Minister effectively get whatever message she has across? Well, no, because it is ambushed by the bad behaviour that is then modelled by others, especially our youngsters, as acceptable. Yes, I confess, I’m a middle aged, middle income, white male. But it’s all down to respect. To me, respect is a non-negotiable, a cornerstone of society and if we lose it, we are definitely in trouble. Peter Fiorenza hosts Sports Shed Saturday (9am to noon) and Fiorenza on Sunday (10am to noon) on Radio MAMA. He can also be heard on Radio Geraldton.